MyRepublic Enters New Zealand Ultra-Fast Broadband Market

Operating on the high-speed UFB (ultra-fast broadband) fibre network, the company’s fibre broadband services will be offered from mid-2014 to residential and business subscribers.

According to its New Zealand Managing Director Vaughan Baker, MyRepublic aims to deliver to all its customers the full potential of the UFB. Mr. Baker is former CEO of the New Zealand Regional Fibre Group, a group that included NorthPower, Ultra Fast Fibre and Enable Networks, who, along with Chorus, are deploying the UFB network across New Zealand.

The UFB network is currently available to approximately 1/3 of the 1 million premises that will be connected by 2019. Relative to the rollout, customer uptake has been slow, Baker says, "a behaviour similar to MyRepublic’s experience in Singapore, when there was no clear incentive for people to switch."